


The Town With Pep!

by Summertime_Sadness



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-06 18:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15201122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summertime_Sadness/pseuds/Summertime_Sadness
Summary: WARNING: THIS CONTAINS SEASON 1 AND 2 SPOILERS!The story is about a town, once wholesome and innocent, now forever changed by the mysterious murder of Jason Blossom...This fanfiction is about what I would like to happen in Riverdale Season 3.Join me as we explore the town with pep! Told from multiple character's POV.





	1. Betty

"Archie Andrews, you're under arrest for the murder of Shadow Lake resident, Cassidy Bullick." Sheriff Minetta said forcefully, his two officers grabbing Archie's hands; handcuffing them.

The whole gymnasium exploded into a buzzing of murmurs. Everybody seemed to be just as confused as I was. Archie did not murder this man, and that I was sure of. I looked over at Jughead, and the shocked expression on his face did not help me calm down. I held his arm, and he looked down at me, gaping. I'm sure my reflection mirrored his.

"What?" Archie asked, looking at us. "I didn't kill him!" He said, putting on a confident front, but I could tell he was taken aback.

Veronica looked like she was waiting for Minetta to start laughing and say, "Just kidding guys, it's all a joke!" by the way she was glancing anxiously around the room. He didn't. Ronnie looked at me, her mouth dropped open, then looked at Archie, then looked at me, and then her eyes landed on someone else.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." I heard Minetta distantly in my head, but my focus was on what- no, who Veronica was looking at. With his dark black hair, eyes, and suit, he blended in well with the shadows so that no one could spot him. I squinted. Now that I was focused on him, I could see him clear as day. The oh-so infamous Hiram Lodge.

Veronica and I exchanged a look as Archie was being taken away. My grip on Jughead tightened. Archie kept looking at us, his face confused and scared. His eyes seemed to plead with us. I didn't kill him! They said.You know I didn't kill him! What's going on?

I know, Arch. I know you didn't kill him. Me, Jug, Ronnie, we know. We're going to get you out of this. My eyes said back.

I glanced back over at Mr. Lodge. He slightly nodded at Archie, such a small gesture I hardly noticed it. His eyes were dancing and a smirk was tugging at the corners of his lips. He turned around slowly, walking into the shadows, leaving me wondering if he was ever there at all. Maybe I'm just going crazy.

Principal Weatherbee's voice snapped me back to reality. "I need everyone to stay calm and stay seated, we will dismiss you momentarily. The rest of the day has been cancelled." He hurriedly walked away, either not noticing or not caring that no one was staying seated.

"What," I asked to Ronnie, my voice urgent. "was your dad doing here?" I already knew the answer, but I needed confirmation.

Ronnie opened her mouth, but Jughead spoke first. "Wait-" He said. "Hiram Lodge was here? Just now?" His gaze became frantic as he searched around the room, holding onto me as if he could shield me from all the evils of the world.

"I-I saw him." Ronnie stuttered. "He didn't even notice me. I don't think he knew that we saw him." Ronnie clenched her fists.

"Well, Ronnie! He- he was here! He had something to do with Archie's arrest! We have to go tell the police, now!" I started towards the exit.

"No, Betty, we can't do that!" She exclaimed, pulling me back. "They don't know what we know. In fact, for all we know, the police are working for my dad. They wouldn't care."

"We have to do something!" I argued, knowing she was right.

"We should go to the station." Jughead said, anger in his voice. He looked tired, tired of everything in this 'town with pep'. Jason's murder, the Black Hood (my dad!), and now Archie's arrest?

"I agree." I said. Jughead squeezed my hand. Ronnie nodded.

"What the hell just happened?" Came a voice from behind us. I turned around, seeing Toni, Cheryl, Sweetpea, Fangs, and other serpent members. "Did Archie Golden-boy Andrews just get arrested for murder?" Toni crossed her arms.

"We're going to the station right now to see him." Jughead explained quickly, stepping away from me and towards the serpents. "Come if you want."

"Come if you want? Jughead, you're the serpent king now. You have to give us something more than that. What's going on?" Sweetpea demanded.

"It's too much to explain right now. I promise this will all make sense later." He said. The serpents did not look satisfied. "Look." He sighed. "Let's all meet at Pops at 3:00 today. I'll tell you everything there. I don't want everyone to hear." He glanced around.

"Fine." Fangs said, stopping whatever Sweetpea was about to say. Probably not 'fine'. "Go. We'll be at Pops, waiting."

"Good. That's good. Thanks for understanding." He nodded at the serpents. He reached back for me, grabbing my hand, and we all started towards the exit door.

A million thoughts raced through my mind as we opened Veronica's car door. What were we going to say when (or if!) we saw Archie? What if I saw my dad while on the way to Archie's cell? I stepped into the passenger seat. What if Archie wasn't given bail? What else was Hiram behind? Which one of us were next? I shut the door close and we sped through Riverdale.

{----------}

After what seemed like hours, Veronica parked at the police station. The weather was matching the overall mood of the day: Rainy. We got out of the car and ran towards the glass doors. Sheriff Minetta was there, almost as if he knew we were coming. I skidded to an abrupt stop.

"Where is my boyfriend, Robert Gisevius?" Veronica demanded, shooting ice daggers from her eyes and referring to the corrupt policeman.

Sheriff Minetta stared at her. "I'm flattered by your reference." He said in a monotone, glaring.

"Don't ignore us, you traitor!" Jughead accused, pointing his finger at him.

Minetta told us that Archie was in questioning at the moment. "Don't worry. You can visit your boyfriend's cell soon." He started to walk away towards the cells.

I acted on impulse. "Wait!" Minetta turned around, looking at me expectantly. I composed myself, trying to frame my question right. "Which prisoners will Archie be near?" I asked, trying to find out whether he would be close to my dad. What if he was? Would I have to see my dad every time I wanted to see Archie? Just thinking about seeing him made me want to punch a wall. I hated him. I never wanted to see or hear from him again, no matter that he was my father. That doesn't make him any less of a murderer.

"Betty Cooper, isn't it?" He asked, a stern look on his face. "Yes, I remember checking in your father a couple days ago. What a tragedy." He looked at me dead-on in the eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't disclose that kind of information just yet." His dark eyes seemed to twinkle at me, laughing.

"Not allowed to disclose that information? You just said a minute ago that we would see Archie in his cell soon! Why can't you tell us now?" Jughead was on the verge of breaking, I could tell. I looked into his eyes, trying to calm him down. He looked back, his eyes angry at first, but then slowly softening until he regained his composure.

"Exactly. I said soon. Not now. Have a good day now." He smiled coldly at us and walked away, going to make a cup of coffee. We watched him make it. He got it black. Just like his soul. He opened the door to a metal room, and in my field of vision, I saw a streak of red hair from inside. "Archie!" Jughead and Veronica strained to look but Minetta had already closed the door.

Jughead shook his head. "This is ridiculous." He scoffed. "Archie didn't kill Cassidy!"

"I know!" Veronica agreed. "Even if he has been going death-wish Archie lately, he would never actually kill someone. He might want to, but he never would be able to." I nodded my head. She sighed. "Oh, Archiekins." She said. "You're in deep water this time."

We were eventually ushered outside by the police into the rain. I sat down, resting my back on the wall. It was raining really hard, Ronnie's car was parked really far, and I didn't feel like getting wet. Jughead slumped down next to me.

"Hey," He said, his eyes gazing at me lovingly. "It's going to be alright." He put his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it.

"No, no it's not going to be alright!" I told him, shrugging his hand off my shoulder. I don't know why I was taking my anger out on Jughead; he had done nothing. "Everything is..... spiraling." I started to rant. "My Dad was just arrested for being a mass murderer, Archie's being arrested, my mom's on the verge because of her long lost son, Polly's at some camp and actually forgives Dad!" The words seemed to have a mind of their own. "Veronica's Dad is trying to keep us all silent! First Archie, who's going to be next? You? Ronnie?" A single teardrop rolled down my left cheek. "I don't want to lose anybody else."

Jughead reached out for my hand and I let him take it. "All I know right now is that I am next to you, hand in hand." The corners of his mouth tilted up into a slight smile, and he wiped the tear on my cheek off with his pointer finger. "We're going to get through this."

"Hey guys, I think we should try to make it to the car now, the rain stopped." Veronica said.

I stood up. "Alright." I said, trying to shake off all of my worries. "It's almost 3:00." I said, checking my phone. I had 3 missed calls from my mom. I decided I would call her when I was in the car. She had probably heard about the Archie Thing and was worried. "We should head over to Pops."

"Good idea." Jughead agreed. The rain started drizzling again, so we quickly dashed for the car and got in. I pulled out my phone again and called my mom back.

"Mom?"

"Oh, thank God. Where are you, Elizabeth?"

"I just got out of the sheriff's station."

"Don't tell me they tried to arrest you too."

"What? No. We were trying to see Archie but they wouldn't let us." There was a pause. "I'm assuming you heard about what happened."

"Yes, and I thought we agreed that you were to come straight home when something like this happened!"

"Something like this happened? Mom, Archie just got arrested! I thought that once dad was-" I stopped. "That once the Black Hood was caught, all this madness was going to stop! I didn't think that the police were going to walk in during the middle of the National Anthem and charge Archie with murder! He's my best friend. You seriously can't expect me to not check to see if he's okay."

I heard my mom sigh on the other line. "I worry so much about you Betty. I worry that you're not going to come home when you walk out that front door. Between all these murders, it's- it's just too much. I know that you want to check on Archie, but I need you to come home. I need you." She sounded desperate.

"Ok, fine, mom. I'll tell Veronica to drive me home, ok? I'm coming." I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Home so soon?" Veronica asked, making a u-turn.

"Yeah, my mom's freaking out. Sorry I can't make it to Pops, Jug." I looked behind me to see him. 

"It's fine. I would offer to come home with you, but you saw the serpents back at the school. And as their king, I have a responsibility now." He straightened his beanie as if it were his crown.

"Yeah, I get it." I looked down and chipped the pink nail polish off my nails.

"Well, I don't think I should go to the serpent meeting for obvious reasons, so I'll drop you off first, Betty." She nodded at me. "Then I'll drop Jughead off at Pops, and..." She trailed off. "Well, I don't really want to go home right now, so I guess I'll just drive around for a bit." Her gaze never faltered but something shifted in the atmosphere.

"Do you want to come to my house?" I offered.

"Yeah, actually. That would be refreshing." She smiled. "So I'll drop Jughead off first then, and then we'll both go to your house."

"Sounds good."

{-----------}

We reached Pops, and Jughead climbed out of the car saying goodbye and telling us to wish him luck. We did, and he swung open the front door of the chock'lit shoppe. I saw 15 pairs of eyes look at him from the window.

"Hey, thanks for letting me crash." Veronica told me. "I really don't want to face my parents right now. I can't look them in the eye without thinking of all the horrible things they've done and gone unpunished for."

"Of course! Ronnie, you can stay as long as you want. My mom might freak out, but she'll eventually allow it." I laughed, despite the grim situation.

She laughed back, and once we started, we couldn't stop. We sat there laughing like crazy people. Maybe we were. Maybe we were just crazy, broken people who needed someone to confide in and someone to tell us everything was fine. But after all,

 

we were just kids.


	2. Jughead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead meets with the serpents, Betty and Ronnie get an unexpected visitor....

I swung open the door to Pops, bracing myself for the Serpent interrogation I was about to receive. Literally as soon as I stepped in, I felt at least 10 pairs of eyes on me, watching my every move. I saw Toni, Cheryl, Sweetpea, and Fangs at a booth, looking at me with their eyebrows raised as if saying, "Start explaining."

The other customers at Pops seemed very alarmed that a Serpent meeting was taking place in their beloved Northside restaurant. Whatever. They could spend 30 minutes out of their lives in the presence of *Gasp!* Southsiders. I didn't see an empty table near the Serpents, so I just stood somewhat in the middle of the mass.

"Alright!" I said, signaling that the meeting was going to start, even though every eye was already on me. "I know you guys have been upset because you want to know what the hell's going on right?" Where should I even start? Even the Northsiders were looking at me. Or, they were walking out. "Well, you guys know that Hiram Lodge has been playing Monopoly with this town, buying property in secret. You know about the Black Hood, and how it turned out to be Hal Cooper, Betty's dad."

"Just one more reason why we shouldn't trust her..." Someone murmured. Why did they hate Betty so much? She had done nothing to them.

"Hey." I told them. "Betty's done more for us than you guys realize. Cut it out. Anyway," I continued. "Veronica bought the Whyte Wyrm, then proceeded to trade it with her dad for the very place we're in." I motioned to around us. A collective amount of groans echoed around the room. "I know, I'm not happy about it either but it's the way it is. And we have to deal with it. Now, Archie Andrews was just arrested for the murder of Shadowlake resident Cassidy Bullick. We met him when we were staying at Veronica's vacation house. He broke in, and Archie ran after him. Now, I'm not going to say that I know exactly what happened, because I don't. But I like to believe that my friend isn't capable of murder."

"Did he seem upset?" Fangs asked.

"Well, yeah. We all were-"

"But did he seem especially upset?"

I wasn't going to lie, Archie did seem a bit too angry that night. "Yes. He threatened to kill him, but I didn't hear any sort of gun shot or scream. He came back without a speck of blood on him. He didn't kill him." I was starting to get impatient, even though I understood their doubt. "Now here's the thing: Mr. Lodge was spotted at the gymnasium at the time Archie got arrested." I shook my finger at no one in particular. "Now what does that lead you to believe?"

"That the damn Northsiders are ruining this town. Again." Sweetpea answered gruffly.

"Yeah, they believe that we're the source of every problem, yet they don't look at the facts." Toni joined in. "Who was the Black Hood? Hal Cooper, a Northsider. Who's buying all of the land of Riverdale, slowly tearing us all apart? Hiram Lodge, a Northsider." Shouts of agreement rose.

"Who killed Jason Blossom?" Cheryl said. "Clifford Blossom, my dad. A Northsider." Cheryl's eyes were fiery and passionate, filled with hate at the mention of her father. Toni stretched her arm behind Cheryl, holding onto her.

"Exactly." I said, regaining control of the conversation. "Hiram Lodge is behind this, I know it. One of his henchman probably killed Cassidy, and then he blamed it on Archie so that he wouldn't tell the authorities, who probably wouldn't even do anything, since they're probably corrupt anyway."

"Well, where are we going to stay now that the Whyte Wyrm is gone? We can't stay at the Andrews household anymore, there's too many of us and that family's already breaking down." Toni asked.

"Yeah, we don't need all that Andrews drama." Said a serpent I didn't know the name of. I decided to ignore him because his statement was really ignorant considering Mr. Andrews had let us stay there when everything was falling apart.

"That's a great question, Toni. And I have an answer. Veronica is building an underground cabaret here at Pops. Northside and Southside alike, but the space will be huge. We could easily branch off and make our own little space. Until then, let's stay at the place where my dad retired and I was crowned." I'd say half the serpents were skeptical, and the other half looked on board with this plan. "It's the best I can do right now."

We finished the meeting by talking about minor things, issues that hadn't been resolved, etc etc. By the time we were done, the only Northsider left (Besides Cheryl, but she was a serpent now) was Pop Tate himself. That shows how real this Riverdale civil-war really was.

"Alright, that's a wrap. Thanks for being patient with me guys, I know times are difficult right now, but we have to fight back!" I told them. They shook their heads in agreement and there was a chorus of "Yeah!"s. I clapped them on the back as they left, then sat down at an empty booth and ordered a strawberry milkshake and a burger. I took my laptop out of my bag and started typing, getting lost in my newest novel...

{-------------------}

The ice cold water sank and rose with a rhythm that mirrored my heartbeat... I finished off a chapter and closed my laptop. I sipped my milkshake before hearing my phone buzz. I fished it out of my bag and checked to see who was calling. I saw a girl with a blonde ponytail, attempting to cover her face with her hands for the photo, laughing. Keyword attempting (You could still see her green eyes through the spaces of her fingers). I smiled. I remembered taking this photo of Betty, back when we first started dating. She hated the picture, so obviously, I set it as my profile photo for her contact and now it shows up every time she calls. I answered the call. 

"Hey, Betts, everything ok?" I asked her, taking a bite of my burger.

"Jug, something happened." Her voice was hushed into a whisper. She sounded so scared, so frightened. I immediately stood up, starting to clear my plates and pack everything back into my bag.

"What do you mean? Are you ok? I'm coming over." I stepped outside and realized I didn't have any method of transportation since Veronica dropped me off. I would have to walk. Or run, should I say.

"NO, Jug you can't do that!" She raised her voice slightly, sounding more frantic. She took a deep breath. "Somebody broke in."

"What?!" I started running towards Betty's house. "Betty, there's no way in hell you can persuade me to not come over. Who broke in? Are you hiding? Did you get out?"

"I don't know who broke in. Ronnie and I heard someone banging on the door, causally at first, but then more and more violent. My mom fell asleep in her room, so I ran in and told her that someone was at the door. Suddenly we heard the door collapse, and he was inside. We didn't want to try and escape through one of the doors since he was down there, so right now we're in my room. The door is locked and we barricaded it with a dresser and a nightstand. He hasn't come upstairs yet. Ronnie and my mom are hiding in the closet, and I'm trying to get a window open but it's not cooperating! Wait, it's starting to open. Hold on." She put the phone down, and suddenly I heard a loud noise from Betty's line and heard someone in the background sware.

I really didn't know what to make of the situation, so I kept on running, not knowing what I was going to do once I got there. "What was that noise, Betty?" There was no response. I felt my heart drop. "Betty? Answer me! What's going on?" The call ended. She had hung up. Fear crawled through my entire body. I kept running, not stopping for anything. I decided not to call again in case her ringer was on and the intruder heard. I was on her street now. I was so close. I saw her house in the distance. My phone made a dinging noise. One new text from Betty.

I opened the window halfway, but it slammed back down. He heard. He's banging on the door. I'm still trying to get the window open. V and mom are helping.

I'm here. I'm going to make a distraction so he'll go to another room. Then I'll find a ladder or something so that you can get down once you open the window. It's going to be ok. Stay calm. I texted back. I ran into the house and heard the banging. I sucked in a breath. I decided to slam the basement door so that he would come down. Maybe I could lock him inside. I remembered that there was another door down there and ran down the stairs to lock and barricade it. But when I was halfway through the steps, my blood chilled. There was already someone down there. He was tied up in a chair, similar to how Chic once was. But this man wasn't Chic. In fact, I didn't recognize him at all. He appeared to be unconscious. I paused, then remembered Betty and the other upstairs and ran to the other basement exit, locking it and putting some miscellaneous furniture in front of it. I took another glance at the body, not sure if he was dead or not, and ran back upstairs, slamming the basement door. I heard the banging from upstairs stop, and then ran out the front entrance, trying to find a ladder. I had about a minute before he went downstairs and realized no one was there.

I went into the garage and easily found a ladder there. I ran to Betty's window and propped the ladder up. Even though the intruder was currently on his way to the basement, Betty, Ronnie, and Mrs. Cooper couldn't get down without removing the barricades from the door which would make noise. I heard footsteps coming from the basement and ran back inside, shutting the door and locking it. He realized what happened and started banging on the door. I went back outside to the ladder, climbing up it. I remembered the first time I did this, climbing up to her bedside window, back when we were all so innocent and naive.

I started climbing, eager to see her. She might be a little freaked out, but I didn't care. I knocked thrice on the window, seeing her turn around, a confused smile on her face. She jogged over, opening it for me.

"Hey there, Juliet." I looked around. "Nurse off duty?"

She smiled as bright as the sun, no- brighter and motioned for me to come in. I scanned the room. It was so..... Betty.

She started ranting about how her whole family was crazy, and what if she was crazy too? I wanted to give her the world. I wanted to be able to make all her problems disappear.

"Hey," I told her. "We're all crazy." She laughed silently. I looked at her, taking in her beauty.

"What?" She asked, a smile playing at her lips.

I kissed her. She was surprised at first, but then melted into it. I forgot about all my problems with my dad, my mom, Jellybean, Jason Blossom's murder, the Southside Serpents. All I could focus on was the beautiful ray of sunshine in front of me. I broke away first, and her face morphed into one of shock.

"The car!" She exclaimed.

I smirked playfully. "Wow. That's what your thinking about in the middle of our moment?"

Oh, how times had changed.

Betty was struggling with the window. I tried helping, but it really wasn't much use since I was outside. Finally, after about 5 more minutes of pure panic, fearing that whoever broke in knocked down the door to the basement, Betty got the window open.

"Betty!" I helped her down, then helped Veronica and Mrs. Cooper. Then I shut the window and went back down the ladder. "Betty, oh my god." I cupped my hands around her face. "I thought I lost you." She kissed me, and I felt as if I held the whole world in the palm of my hands. I just wanted to stay like this forever. But alas, there was still a dangerous intruder in the basement. I broke away, saying, "The basement!"

Betty smiled, gently imitating me when she said in response, "Wow. That's what your thinking about in the middle of our moment?" I laughed, releasing all the worries away.

"I locked him in the basement. He's still there." I looked at the front door. I sighed. "I don't want you to come in, Betty. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Jughead, he broke into my house. Me, Ronnie, my mom. We should all see who it is." Betty said.

"I agree with that statement." Veronica piped up. Betty's mom still was in shock but firmly nodded her head.

"Fine." I concluded. I knew I wasn't changing her mind. "Just... stay close. Be careful. And call the police!" Betty pulled out her phone, made a quick phone call, and we crept back into the house, hearing not only banging, but kicking. I jumped back, then stepped forward.

"Hey! You barbarian!" I spun around to see Veronica standing with her mouth forming those words. Sirens went off in my head, and the noises stopped. I saw Betty's mom, who had a heavy lamp in her hands, and Betty, with a metal rod. I wasn't going to ask where she got it from. I pulled out my pocket knife, and cautiously opened the door. What we saw shocked us.

"Hey guys. Did you miss me?" White-blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and a thin-shaped face stood in front of us.

"Chic." Betty's mom breathed.

It turned out he had a weapon of his own, and swung the gun, aiming for the top of Betty's head. I quickly blocked him, pinning him to the ground. "What the hell are you doing here?" I growled.

"Chic?" Betty asked, taken aback. "I thought... I thought..."

He sneered. "You thought what? That when you sent dear old dad after me, I was murdered? Think again."

"Oh my god." We heard Veronica gasp. She pointed her finger towards the basement. "What is that?" Oh right. I forgot about the body.

Betty's eyes got wide. "Oh yeah." Chic said to her. "Meet your long-lost brother." He smiled coldly.

"Is..." Betty stuttered. "Is he dead?"

"He will be soon."

"I thought you said he died from a drug overdose." Mrs. Cooper said. She was crying, taking steps down the stairs to her dying son.

"Just another lie of Chic Whatever-your-last-name-is," Betty stared at him. I still had him pinned on the ground. Mrs. Cooper was holding onto Charles, crying.

Just in time, the police came. I heard the blaring alarms. 5 police officers barreled into the house, talking into their Walkie-Talkies. "Call the paramedics!" They yelled when they saw Charles. Before I knew what was happening, one of them was on me.

"What are you doing?" Betty shoved him off of me. Another one handcuffed me. "Stop it!" She shrieked.

"Forsyth Pendleton Jones III, you are under arrest for the beating of Chic," He didn't know his last name, so he just said Chic. "And the attempted murder of Charles Smith."

Betty and Veronica looked at me with fearful eyes. "Get your hands off me!" I told them. "I didn't do anything." Did they seriously think that I was the one responsible for this? Chic was pinned to the ground because he tried to attack my girlfriend!

"Get off him!" Betty exclaimed. "Chic broke in, he- he tried to kill Charles, Jughead did nothing! What are you doing?" The policeman glared at Betty.

I finally decided that fighting the policeman would not help my case. "It's fine, Betty. I'm going to be fine. There's no evidence against me." The police arrested Archie, and now me? They were slowly getting us all. There was no Hiram in sight; I didn't think he was behind this. I should have let go of Chic when the police arrived. I walked right into that one. But they couldn't put me in jail. They must know that I'm innocent,

right?


	3. Veronica

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a while, been busy with band camp lmao, enjoy reading! This chapter's a little short but

"Let's make a club." I told Betty after Jughead got hauled off by the police.

"What?"

"The My-Boyfriend-Is-In-Jail-For-A-Crime-He-Didn't-Commit Club." I gave a sympathetic smile.

"Now really isn't the best time to make a joke, V. Jughead and Archie are both arrested and in police custody." She started looking around for something, scanning the kitchen counters.

"What are you looking for?"

"My keys. We're going to see Jughead." She found them and started out the front door.

"Betty, they're not going to let you see him!" I told her. Didn't we just go through this with Archie a few hours ago?

"I don't care. It's worth a try." She opened her garage and stood outside her car. She looked at me. "Are you coming?"

I sighed and looked around. I couldn't go home, where my parents were going Bonnie and Clyde. I couldn't stay here, where everything was falling to shambles. My boyfriend was in jail. Jughead was in jail. "Fine."

I looked at Betty as we were driving. She seemed positively pissed. I didn't really want to say anything, because if I did, I would probably make the situation worse. So, instead, I rolled down my window and looked outside. Everything was eerily normal. It was if nothing had changed. I felt the breeze on my face and the sun shining on me.

Betty broke the silence. "Maybe we can see Archie."

I perked up hearing his name. "That's right! He has to be done with questioning by now. He's probably in..." I trailed off.

"His jail cell." Betty finished grimly. I nodded.

"It's so unfair that Chic just got away with everything. Running away from the scene of the crime. Doesn't that just prove guilt?"

"Exactly. I can't believe he used Jughead's arrest as a distraction to get away." She shook her head. "I mean, seriously, how can the police be so blind?"

"We know Minetta's corrupt. Probably hired by my dad..." I looked down. "I think the others just follow him since he's the sheriff. They're willfully blind."

"I know." We drove in silence for a few more minutes.

"We need a plan."

"A plan?" Betty turned her head to look at me.

"Eyes on the road." I teased her. She smiled and rolled her eyes, focusing her attention back to driving. I continued. "We need to get Jughead and Archie out of jail somehow. It's not like we can just smuggle them out. The Sheriff's not budging on his position that they're both guilty. What are we going to do?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. But I'll think of something. We'll think of something." She corrected. "For now, we just need to check on them. See where they stand. We should be able to see Archie. Jughead may still be in questioning, but I'm willing to wait."

"Me too." I squeezed Betty's hand, feeling confident that this nightmare would end soon.

{-}

We reached the police station (For the second time that day!) and swung open the doors like some badass female superheroes. I can just picture it in slow motion. We walked up to the front counter.

"Hi, can we speak to Sheriff Minetta?" I asked. Betty smiled frighteningly sweet.

"Concerning what?" The lady at the desk asked. She was on the older side, with light brown hair and black eyes.

"Concerning the fact that this whole station is crawling with corrupt spies, and the fact that both our boyfriends were just put into police custody for crimes they didn't commit," Betty said threateningly, just over a whisper, leaning over the desk. Say goodbye to Betty, Dark! Betty was rising.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The lady put her glasses on, almost as if to see us more clearly.

"Oh, I think you do." I said in the same tone as Betty. The lady, taken aback, grabbed the phone and dialed a number. I presume it was Sheriff Minetta's, because a minute later, he paraded down the hallway.

"Ah! What a surprise!" He gave us another one of his cold smiles, but this time, we were not going to be shoved outside. We were a force to be reckoned with. "Miss Lodge. Miss Cooper." He nodded his head at us respectively.

"Y'know, back when Mr. Keller was Sheriff, we all called him Sheriff Clueless. You're worse. You're Sheriff Corrupt." I spat at him (Not literally, I have class, thank you very much). "Show us where Archie is!" I demanded.

He chuckled. "The Lodges are quite a feisty family, aren't they?" His eyes shifted to the right of him, then quickly went back to us. "Mr. Jones is still in questioning," I saw Betty straighten up. "But Mr. Andrews is ready for visitors."

"Great!" I declared. "Let's go." I started walking, but he grabbed my arm.

"Not so fast, Miss Lodge. You still need to fill out paperwork." He took out a pen and grabbed two sheets from the desk we were at. "Please complete these and speak to me after you're done."

Betty and I sat down at some chairs and started filling out the questions. Most of them were basic.

Full name? Veronica Cecilia Lodge

Age? 16 years old

What is your relation to inmate? Girlfriend and friend

Race? Hispanic

Etc, etc

"Ugh. All this is stressing me out. I'm going to go get a coffee. Want anything?" I asked. Betty shook her head. I walked over to the coffee station and got it with whipped cream and sugar. Suddenly, I heard voices coming from the general direction of the cells. Was that...? No. It couldn't be. I couldn't hear well, so I took a few steps towards the cells. No one seemed to notice. I took a few more steps, and now I could hear the voices clearly. My parents. What. Were. They. Doing. Here? I didn't want to speak to them, I didn't want to look at them, I didn't even want to hear of them ever again. But I had to. I marched down the hallway, heading in the direction of the voices. To hell with paperwork.

"Mom? Dad? What the actual hell are you doing here?" They were at Archie's cell. I was furious. How dare they think they can get my boyfriend arrested and then talk to him like nothing had happened.

"Veronica...!" My mom jumped at the sound of my voice, looking at my father. My gaze was beady and unyielding. "Wh-what are you doing here?" She asked nervously.

I pointed at myself, feigning surprise. "What-what am I doing here? Oh, I don't know, maybe checking on my boyfriend that you had arrested!" I was tired of all this Lodge crap. I really just wanted to be emancipated at this point.

"Veronica!" I heard Archie's voice. And then I saw him. His usually bright red hair was now a light brown, and his always-twinkling eyes seemed dim. "Archie, oh my god." I rushed over to the cell, not caring that my parents were right there.

"Remember what we talked about, Mr. Andrews." My father nodded at Archie, didn't acknowledge me, and walked away.

"What we talked about? Archiekins, what did that snake say? Did he threaten you? Are you ok? How long are you going to be in here?" I reached my hand through the bars to hold his.

He laughed, despite the situation. "I'm fine, Ronnie. The thing with your dad..." He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "It's nothing. It's really not a big deal. Not your problem."

"Yes, yes it is my problem! What did he say?" I brushed my hand on his cheek.

"I think that's a question for another day, Miss Lodge." Minetta was standing right behind me. "Whatever happened to that paperwork? You're not allowed to be here."

"It's right here!" A voice came from down the hall. God bless Betty, always there to save the day. I squinted. She had even filled out the rest of my paperwork. She thrusted it into the Sheriff's hands.

"Very well," He said. "You have 15 minutes." He tapped his watch and slowly walked away.

"Oh, god, Archie..." Betty said.

"I'm fine. Seriously." He swept a hand through his hair. "What have I missed?" Betty and I exchanged a glance. "What?" He asked. "Did something happen?"

"Chic broke into Betty's house with Charles's dying body." I announced.

"Oh my god, is everyone ok? Charles? I thought he was dead?" He looked confused.

"Chic lied." I told him. Shocker.

"Is he in police custody?"

"No, but Jughead is." Betty said quietly, as though if she said it soft enough, it would make it not true.

"Jughead? What?" Archie was gripping the bars of the cell.

"When the police came, they saw Chic pinned to the ground by Jughead and assumed he was the one who broke in and tried killing Charles." Betty explained. "Chic got away..."

Archie hit one of the cell bars. "That's ridiculous!"

"It is, but we were witnesses." I said. "We can tell Minetta what really happened." I assured Betty.

"What if he doesn't believe us?" She asked with fearful eyes.

"We'll make him." I said firmly.

We talked with Archie for a few more minutes before Sheriff Minetta ushered us out. "Have a nice rest of your day."

"Hey!" Betty exclaimed. "We're witnesses regarding to Jughead's arrest. We know what really happened, and Jughead doesn't deserve to be in there." She pointed to the questioning room where Jughead was.

"You want to make a statement..." Minetta said slowly. We nodded, and he saw that we weren't changing our minds. "Follow me." He brought Betty to another questioning room, and then put me into another. "An officer will be with you shortly." He shut the door in my face.

The room was dark at first, but I found a light switch and flipped it on. I saw cameras in the corners of the room, which just made me feel more uncomfortable. All my life, I had felt watched by my parents. I had to make the right move in every decision, there was no room for faulty errors. A female officer with dark red hair stepped in.

"Miss Lodge? Please sit down." She motioned to the chair.

I saw the red light on the camera blink, signaling it was recording. Was this going to be how things were for the rest of my life?

Constantly being watched and judged?


End file.
